In Italian, there are many irregular verbs. Most of them belong to the 2nd conjugation (verbs in -ere).
Irregular verbs have different endings than the ones found in the fixed inflectional paradigm. For example, some do not make use of the same stem throughout one tense. Some add a vowel (also, a consonant) between the stem and the ending, in unpredictable ways. Some have minor spelling changes, in different tenses.
Let’s have a look at the present indicative of two common irregular verbs, andare / to go and venire / to come. Both are intransitive verbs and in the compound tenses make use of the auxiliary verb essere / to be.
—> Andare is a verb of the 1st conjugation (ending in -are). It translates as to go and generally describes movement towards a place or a person which are distant from the speaker.
Present Indicative:
- Io vado. (I go.)
- Tu vai. (You go.)
- Egli/Ella / Esso/Essa va. (He / she / it goes.)
- Noi andiamo. (We go.)
- Voi andate. (You go.)
- Essi/esse vanno. (They go.)
As you can see the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person singular and the 3rd person plural have a different stem.
—> Venire is a verb of the 3rd conjugation (ending in -ire). It translates as to come and generally describes movement towards a place or a person close to the speaker.
Present Indicative:
- Io vengo. (I come.)
- Tu vieni. (You come.)
- Egli/Ella / Esso/Essa viene. (He / she / it comes.)
- Noi veniamo. (We come.)
- Voi venite. (You come.)
- Essi/esse vengono. (They come.)
As you can see a g gets inserted in the 1st person singular and the 3rd person plural conjugation, while an i gets inserted in the 2nd and 3rd person singular:
- Vengo spesso a Milano per lavoro. (I often come to Milan for business.)
- Non vado mai a Milano per lavoro. (I never go to Milan for business.)
- Andate al mare in agosto? (Do you go to the sea in August?)
- I miei nipoti non vengono mai a trovarmi. (My nieces and nephews never visit me.)
